The effects of unstable clients in adolescent treatment: contagion versus continuity

This study examined the effects of integrating an unstable group of seriously disturbed adolescents into an existing day treatment program. Behavioral data were collected for an established group of subjects who were in treatment one year prior to and one year after the arrival of a new group of severely disturbed adolescents. It was found that the disruptive behavior displayed by the new admission subjects was not imitated by the subjects of the established group. Rather, there was a significant decrease in aggression and in the overall number of psychiatric events for the established group. The treatment milieu was seen to be resistant to the effects of the new admissions largely due to the structured form of treatment.